Sunday, December 25, 2011

Barreleye Fish


The mysteries of the depths of the ocean never cease to amaze me. With so much unknown, imagination tends to take over. The species that could be living so far under the water’s surface are still only beginning to be discovered. One of these unique and mysterious fish is the Macropinna microstoma, also known as the Barreleye.

About 2,000 feet below the surface, it lives in almost complete darkness over in the Pacific Ocean. However, there is something different about this fish than most others (of the ones we know of): its head is transparent. This fish, small with a black body, has a completely see-through head region.

Looking at it, there are 2 black circles right above its mouth that appear to be eyes; surprisingly, they are not. Those are the olfactory organs, or organs used for the sense of smell. The 2 barrel-like structures (gray with green half-spheres on top) within the head are the actual eyes of this fish. Being as the eyes are inside of the head, this would explain why the fish’s head is transparent and not the rest of the body. The gray part is the actual color, while the green is a protective cover. Being so far deep into the ocean, where little light reaches, the eyes of the barreleye fish are very sensitive to even the smallest amount of light.

Another interesting fact: the eyes of this fish move together, like binoculars, unlike most other fish. Most often, the eyes point upward, but when it locates food it rotates its eyes to face the same direction as its mouth, to make capturing the food much easier.

This unique creature of the deep has been known of since 1939; however the only known specimens had been mangled up remains after being captured by fish nets in the ocean. When those remains were taken out of the nets, the heads of the fish were often found to have collapsed on themselves. Not until 2004 was any video footage of this fish captured, and this was not released until 2009 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. To see the video of the barreleye fish that was released by the research institute, click here.

Not much else is known about this strange species of fish, considering how difficult it is to study. At such far depths, with little light, and with the fragility of the structures to change in pressure, it may be long before we know more about this mysterious fish.

But what could be the reason for the way this fish’s head has formed? After all, there had to have been some evolutionary benefit for the original placement of the eyes within the head, and from that the transparency of the head, right? It seems having the eyes located there allows more protection, especially in a place where there is very little light. Also, having the eyes located in the head allows for a wider range of rotation for the eyes, and makes it easier to go from looking above to straight forward.

With so much still unknown, so much is still only assumed. Can you just imagine what other creatures exist that we know nothing about? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, this is really interesting! The Barreleye Fish looks very prehistoric. Maybe the head is formed to attract prey. I read what you said that the eyes are pointed upward when not capturing prey. Maybe the prey is attracted to the head, when this happens the fish is waiting for the approaching prey to come closer to the mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Did the article or video explain what the film is made out of and Do we knw any predators of it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. @kristi it might be, i know they look for prey when their eyes are up and then once they find it they rotate their eyes so capturing would be easier, but that is very possible
    @phil neither the article nor the video explain what the film is made of, and as of now there is no information released that tell of any predators, but in the future such information may be released

    ReplyDelete
  4. The video explained how the fish was captured in California. Is this the only are these fish can live ?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maybe the eyes are pointed upward because that is the direction which the light filters in from? and the transparency of the head acts like a lens and magnifies the amount of light.

    ReplyDelete
  6. @shane I don't think it would want to magnify the light, in the video, it's eyes were decribed as extremely sensitive to light. i would assume the eyes evolved iside the head to preotect them from excessive light. They really only are used for capturing food.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @danielle, These fish live throughout the Pacific Ocean in general
    @shane, that is a possible theory, it would allow for the fish to be able to see clearer. But I think that the upward direction of their eyes is more for the reason that this species are ambush predators, so they would steal prey from other unsuspecting predators that are above them

    ReplyDelete
  8. why do it look like a panda bear in the face..... i think

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.